17/02/2008

February thunks

Following the tradition of BHaPPY, five "thunks" from my February Burning Lodge session (recorded Thursday 7th February, played to the first meeting of the 'London and Home Counties Lodge chapter' yesterday):

  1. Finally getting something useful out of Arturia Moog Modular V (full review to come); for a long time I felt CS80V was a much better piece of kit but after several months of scratching my head I've finally figured out how to get some good sounds out of the thing. It's not a particularly easy softsynth to use but effort pays dividends with this one. But I prefer it as a polysynth to a mono, which is weird. The Bode Frequency Shifter module is one of the best things I've heard from any software synth.
  2. If you overdub thumb piano several times, each time through a different frequency ring modulator, you can get something close to a gamelan sound. Strange.
  3. Tracks where someone else suggests the title seem to come out as good, if not better than tracks, where I choose the title (on my session 'Over The Line', on Brother Buffalo's session 'Gonna Have To Be Friday' and 'Well We Could Do That'.
  4. Accounts Receivable office supervisor Herbert Kornfeld (of 'The Onion' fame, but recently deceased, sadly) is a good subject for a song.
  5. Never underestimate the appeal of simple call-and-response vocal patterns (particularly when they're done in different octaves).
More when the tracks get posted up on the Burning Lodge site. And congrats to all Lodge members who participated this month, on a killer session.

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